With the resignation of Jim Malatras, questions are being raised about why he was appointed SUNY chancellor without a national search. 

State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, told Capital Tonight that she wasn’t happy when Malatras was first appointed for that very reason.

Glick said it was the SUNY Board of Trustees that determined no national search would take place after former Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson resigned. 

“The Board of Trustees has the authority to make that recommendation,” she said.

Most of the SUNY Board of Trustees was hand-picked by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“Earlier today, I did suggest that perhaps we ought to review whether a board solely appointed by the governor is the appropriate way to proceed in the future," Glick said.

According to Glick, Johnson was “excellent” and was found through a national search. 

Glick also said Johnson did not have the support of the Cuomo administration. When asked why, she said, “I could guess that there was a desire for control, and here was an independent person who was perhaps so exemplary, it was threatening.”